Apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture for business analysis

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture for providing, analyzing and visualizing corporate and corporate relationship information, and for creating financial products and instruments based on corporate and corporate relationship information. Information types such as entities, relationships, selection, groupings, arrangements, view types are provided to enable the user to interactively review, modify and create information.

[0001] This invention relates to apparatus, methods, and articles ofmanufacture for business analysis. More particularly, this inventionrelates to apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture for analyzingcorporate information and corporate relationships.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Information about a company, a company's competitors, suppliers,customers and the like is very helpful in understanding and analyzingthat company. This information, which is described herein as a company's“corporate information,” is sought by researchers, analysts, traders,and others.

[0003] Investigating corporate information is not easy, however. Thereare tools that permit investigation into information about company, butdo not readily make available information about a company's competitors,suppliers, customers and the like (“corporate relationships.”) Somelimited corporate relationship tools do exist, however, those toolsoften concern themselves primarily with competitive relationships, alsoknown as “horizontal” relationships. For example, an investor may beable to determine where a company ranks within its industry on a numberof measures, such as outstanding debt, return on equity, etc. Moreover,the available tools use traditional industry or sector classification,which groups companies largely in terms of the similarity of theirproducts or services. However, simply understanding these horizontalrelationships, even within similar industries or sectors, does notprovide other relationship information that may be at least as valuable.For example, information about suppliers and/or customers (also known as“vertical” relationships) might reveal useful information such as, forexample, over much dependence on a single customer. There are few, ifany tools permitting thus horizontal and vertical relationship or “valuechain.”

[0004] Moreover, corporate relationship information must be quicklyaccessed when considering investment decisions. Trading stocks, bonds,etc. requires rapid decision-making. Corporate relationship information,to be useful, must be available as soon as desired. Additionally, anysuch information must also be understandable, that is, presented in away so as to help rapid assimilation and understanding of theinformation. (See e.g., Tufte, Edward, Visual Explanations: “Whenprinciples of design replicate principles of thought, the act ofarranging information becomes an act of insight.” 9, Graphics Press,1997]

[0005] Even if corporate information and corporate relationshipinformation tools exist, those tools do not adequately provide for rapidand useable information. For example, a financial institution might havereams of corporate information and corporate relationship informationstored internally, in enterprise databases, as well as in other places,however, accessing and displaying such information may not be easilydone, if at all. Moreover, once such information is accessed, it isusually available only in a static format, that is, in charts, graphs,and the like.

[0006] The general lack of availability, rapidity and understandabilityof corporate relationship information also limits creation of financialproducts. For example, presently financial products exist that divideindustries into segments based on common business, such astelecommunications, semiconductors, etc. However, the financial marketsconstantly strive to create new financial products. If corporaterelationship information was easily understandable and rapidlyavailable, new financial products based on that information could becreated, such as indexes, derivatives, etc.

[0007] Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to providemethods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for providing corporaterelationship information.

[0008] It is a further object of the present invention to providemethods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for analyzing corporateand corporate relationship information.

[0009] It is a further object of the present invention to providemethods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for visualizingcorporate and corporate relationship information.

[0010] It is a further object of the present invention to providemethods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for creating financialproducts based on corporate and corporate relationship information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention comprises methods, apparatus and articlesof manufacture for providing, analyzing and visualizing corporateinformation and corporate relationship information. The presentinvention also comprises methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturefor creating financial products based on corporate information andcorporate relationship information.

[0012] In the preferred embodiments, the desired information comprises anumber of information types, including entities, relationships,selection, groupings, arrangements, and view types. These informationtypes are present on databases in other formats, and provided to theuser through an interactive, graphic user interface. Elements of theinterface provide user interaction through various input means, such aspointing devices, keyboards, etc. The user can dynamically alter apresented view, so that, for example, upon viewing a first company andits set of relationships, alter the view to display a second company andits relationships. Such dynamic alteration is preferably providedthrough a view of a first company node being connected to one or moreother company nodes. A second company node can then be brought forward,and its connections shown in turn. Comparison tools between the twonodes can be provided as well.

[0013] The preferred embodiments additionally provide for the capturingof desired company information and company relationship information, sothat financial products, financial instruments, analysis tools, etc. canbe supplied to a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a preferred embodiment.

[0015]FIG. 2 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0016]FIG. 3 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0017]FIG. 4 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0018]FIG. 5 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0019]FIG. 6 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0020]FIG. 7 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0021]FIG. 8 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0022]FIG. 9 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0023]FIG. 10 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0024]FIG. 11 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0025]FIG. 12 shows a representation of a preferred embodiment.

[0026]FIG. 13 shows a schematic view of a preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027]FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a preferred embodiment. Database10 is housed on server 15. Database 10 is populated with informationconcerning various entities. Client 20 accesses the server 15 throughany manner known in the art, retrieves desired information, and arrangesand displays the desired information. Other preferred embodiments mayarrange and display the desired information on the server side of thetransaction. Additionally, yet other embodiments may be implemented inother than a client/server environment.

[0028] In the preferred embodiments, the desired information, beingpresent on databases or other formats, is provided to the user throughan interactive, graphic user interface. Elements of the interfaceprovide user interaction through various input means, such as pointingdevices, keyboards, etc.

[0029] In various preferred embodiments, there are various informationtypes; entity information and entity relationships. Information aboutentities and entity relationships is shown in these embodiments. FIG. 2shows an example of a display of a preferred embodiment, displayed in aWeb browser window on a client system. The entities, corporations here,are represented by stock symbols within nodes, such as for example stocksymbols 5 and 6 within nodes 10 and 20 respectively. Relationshipsbetween the entities, here customer-supplier relationships, are shown bylines connecting nodes, such as for example line 11 connecting node 10and node 20. From the example, it can be seen that there is acustomer-supplier relationship between the company represented by stocksymbol 5 and node 10 and the company represented by stock symbol 6 andnode 20. (It should be noted that stock symbols, corporations andrelationships depicted in the examples set forth herein are whollyfictional and have no connection to any existing entities and are onlyused here for demonstrative purposes.)

[0030] The corporations and types of relationships shown in the exampleof FIG. 2 are selected by the user through a screen or screens on herclient system. FIG. 3 shows an example of the screen used in a preferredembodiment to select specific corporate entity and entity relationshipinformation. The user selects companies through typing in a selectionbox or using a drop-down menu. In this embodiment the user is restrictedto information present on the server and cannot modify, add or deleteinformation. Creation, modification, addition or deletion of informationis done at the server as desired. In other embodiments, entity selectionand relationship information may be present on either client, server orboth, or in other configurations on other systems. In those embodiments,the user may have the ability to create, modify, add or delete entityand relationship information.

[0031] Returning now to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the user selects afirst and second company through buttons 21 and 22 respectively, selectsa relationship through button 23 and clicks View 24. A view type willthen be generated, as for example the view shown in FIG. 2.

[0032] Also seen in FIG. 2 is Return to Selector button 8. This button,upon activation by the user, such as through clicking on a mouse,returns the user to the screen shown in FIG. 3, and so permits the user,as desired, to alter the view. This alteration is accomplished by addingfurther companies by use of the Additional Companies selector box 9 andadd to View 25. The user can then create a view with a number ofcompanies and their relationships, such as shown for example in FIG. 4,as well as save his view by way of button 26 in FIG. 3.

[0033] Additional information types available in the preferredembodiments comprise: selection, grouping, arrangement and view.

[0034] Selection is the information type used to provide entities andentity information. FIG. 5 shows an example of the screen used in apreferred embodiment to select specific corporate entity and entityrelationship information. The user may select entities and entitiesrelationships by predetermined criteria, in this example, membership ina particular company sector.

[0035] Grouping is the information type used to establish the selectedentities in one or more groups. For example, the user may also group theentities by industry segment in a number of levels. In this example,choosing four levels of industry segment would result in the exampleLargest 1000 Telecom group of entities being segmented into: 1) TelecomService Providers, 2) Router and Switch Manufacturers, 3) Router andSwitch Component Manufacturers, and 4) Router and Switch ComponentMachine Manufacturers.

[0036] Arrangement is the information type used to place the entitiesand entity relationships on the display. In the example of FIG. 5, acolumn arrangement is selected.

[0037] View is the result of selection of various other informationtypes. In the preferred embodiments, predetermined view types areavailable, as is described further below.

[0038]FIG. 6 shows the result of the example selections in FIG. 5. Thevalue chain of the Figure provides both horizontal and verticalrelationships. The identification box 30 shows the selections made. Thesegment identification area 31 shows the various segments, and thecompany area 32 shows the various companies and their relationships. Ofcourse, it may be possible that a vertical relationship, such as acustomer-supplier relationship or another type of vertical relationshipmay extend among industry segments in the manner shown in FIG. 7. Inthat Figure, the Telecom Service Providers also have a customer-supplierrelationship with the Router and Switch Component Manufacturers, and theRouter and Switch Component Machine Manufacturers entities as shown.

[0039] Various indicia are used in some preferred embodiments to conveyinformation about the information types.

[0040] For example, FIG. 8 shows an example, similar to FIG. 7, ofindicia being used to convey information about the entity relationships.In the Figure, the respective percentage of supplier is indicated by theline thickness—the thicker the line the greater the percentage.

[0041] More than one relationship may be shown. For example, FIG. 7shows customer-supplier relationships (solid line) and ownershiprelationships (dotted line) between a set of entities. The strength ofthe customer-supplier relationships is shown by graduated linethicknesses. The percent of ownership is shown by graduated linethicknesses as well. In the example of the Figure shared multiplerelationships are shown by two lines, dotted and dashed, extending tothe same company nodes, however, in other embodiments multiplerelationships may be shown by other schemes including differing colorlines, overlapping lines, other shapes, flashing shapes, etc.

[0042] Line thicknesses are not the only indicia possible. Any indiciaknown in the art, including but not limited to graphic indicia such ascolor, pattern, shape, as well as other indicia such as audio, video,etc., may be used to convey information in various preferredembodiments. For example, entity information, specifically, relativemarket size of each company is indicated by size of company node, inFIG. 9. FIG. 9 also shows further relationship information,specifically, ownership by one entity of another through the dottedlines with the arrow indicating the subsidiary company. In the exampleof the Figure shared multiple relationships are shown by two lines,dotted and dashed, extending to the same company nodes, however, inother embodiments multiple relationships may be shown by other indiciaincluding but not limited to differing color lines, overlapping lines,other shapes, flashing shapes, etc. Preferred embodiments may use, aswell, commercially available data visualization tools such as THEBRAIN™,THINKMAP™, etc.

[0043]FIG. 10 is yet another example of indicia being used to conveyinformation. FIG. 10 shows a number of entities, with the company nodereflecting size of the company, the thickness of the line of the nodereflecting net profit margin, grouped by industry segment, shown by theline patterns of the node, in a map arrangement, with the strength ofcustomer-supplier relationships shown by connecting line thicknesses.

[0044] Also, in some embodiments, additional information is displayed byusing animated displays, drop down menus or other display technologiesknown in the art, such as for example when a user clicks on a companynode, relationship or other information type or positions the cursor ina certain area of the screen. This additional information may beconfigured as desired, such as tables with further information, news andevent information, latest stock prices, multimedia with the latestcorporate news, etc.

[0045] Some preferred embodiments may as well provide various otherviews. For example, three-dimensional views might also be used torepresent information, two two-dimensional views might be overlaid ontop of each other to discover common companies, other multipledimensions might be used as desired, etc. In general any view or viewsknown in the art may be provided in preferred embodiments, as well as anoption or options to change a view or views as desired. Additionally, incertain embodiments, a user could mark, note or otherwise alter theentities, relationships and other objects in a view.

[0046] Multidimensional views may be especially useful in thoseembodiments that group companies by criteria other than sector orproducts. For example, various embodiments permit grouping companies bydependencies on specific suppliers, clients or client segments, etc.Taking FIG. 8 as an example view, the user is able to “drill down” (byclicking on LU or using other method as known in the art) through anyparticular entity to view that entity's relationships in a differentdimension. FIG. 11 shows the result of a drilling down to the entityidentified as LU. The vertical customer-supplier relationships arepresent as are the horizontal competitors. If another competitor such asCSCO is viewed as well, a split screen view such as FIG. 12 will permitthe user to quickly view the different relationships of the companies.

[0047] Note that the preferred embodiments provide various means foraltering the views provided. Altering the view presented, so that, forexample, upon viewing a first company and its set of relationships, andthen providing the user with means to display a second company and itsrelationships through pointing device input, keyboard input, voiceinput, etc., (such as the example described immediately above withregard to FIGS. 8 and 11) is provided in the preferred embodiments. Thisalteration is dynamic—the user can determine as she is viewing one viewthat she wishes to view another company as well, such as in a splitscreen, or in successive screens. Thus, for example as had beendescribed above, such dynamic alteration is preferably provided througha view of a foreground comprising a first company node connected to oneor more other background company nodes. A second company node, of one ofthe background company nodes, can then be brought forward, and itsconnections shown in turn in the foreground, while the first noderetreats to the background, becoming one of the background company nodesof the new, foreground company.

[0048] In especially preferred embodiments, a user is able to viewsufficient entities and relationships to view dominant critical pathdependencies, that is, each of the largest or dominant companies intheir respective sectors, as well as the links between the companies. Bylinking market share leaders at each level of a view the balance ofdominance across a group of related companies could be viewed. If forexample, AMAT is the dominant Router and Switch Component MachineManufacturer to AMCC, which is the dominant provider of Router andSwitch Components to CSCO, which is the dominant Router and SwitchManufacturer to ATT, the dominant Telecom Service Provider, a dominantcritical path among Largest 1000—Telecom could thus be identified.

[0049] The especially preferred embodiments permit critical pathidentification as desired. For example, correlation in stock pricemovements between companies might be identified, companies trading atsimilar valuations, etc. (“Critical path” is used herein to mean apattern or patterns.) Moreover, once a desired critical pathidentification exists, a financial product, (e.g. a market basket ofstocks making up the path) could be established and traded. It should benoted that various embodiments permit creation of market baskets basedon any desired criteria, such as particular relationships, groupings,arrangements, etc.

[0050] A primary information type used to establish critical paths inthe preferred embodiments is the view type. In the above examples thatshowed customer-supplier relationships the view type could be understoodas a fundamental view type, that is, a view of fundamental information.Fundamental information as used herein comprises company, industry, andeconomic information and/or data (either public or proprietary) thatallow for statistical and/or ratio analysis.

[0051] The preferred embodiments additionally may construct views ofMarket Risk information and/or Performance information. Market Riskinformation as used herein comprises information and/or data thatconsiders volatility in individual entity and/or market price andfundamentals performance that broader entity and/or market fluctuationsmight induce due to exogenous events and/or data with broader relevance.Performance Information as used herein comprises information and/or datathat includes but is not limited to statistical analysis of Fundamentaland/or Market Risk data.

[0052] Types of fundamental information used in the views of thepreferred embodiments include but are not limited to:

[0053] Revenue dependence of a company on a customer or customers. Theamount or percentage of revenue that a company receives from anyparticular customer indicates degree of dependence on that customer. Forexample, a company may have one customer providing 90% of itsrevenue—that company is highly dependent on that major customer. Anexample of a useful revenue dependence view type would be a view thatonly shows companies with a high revenue dependence (i.e., small numberof major customers).

[0054] Component or material dependence of a company on a supplier orsuppliers. The amount or percentage of components or material that acompany receives from a supplier indicates the degree of dependence onthat supplier.

[0055] Business or political relationships between companies. Businessor political relationships between companies may include any type ofties, e.g., company officers on the boards of other companies, familymembers in two companies, joint ventures, etc.

[0056] Strength of relationship between companies. Strength ofrelationship between companies may include variables such as length oftime two companies have done business together, common stock ownership,etc.

[0057] The preferred embodiments use other types of information toconstruct other view types as well including but not limited to MarketRisk view types, comprised of Market Risk information, and Performanceview types comprised of Performance information.

[0058] Market Risk Information includes but is not limited to:

[0059] Correlation Coefficient Pricing Information. Correlationcoefficient pricing information comprises current and historicalcorrelation of stock prices between two companies or between a companyand an index.

[0060] Relative Strength. Relative strength usually compares onecompany's stock price against one or more others, and/or against asub-industry or sub-industries, an industry or industries, index orindicies, and/or market or markets.

[0061] Relative Strength Index (RSI). RSI comprises an absolute pricemomentum indicator. RSI calculates a security's closing price as againstpast closing performance, by taking the average of the closes of the upbars (the up frequency intervals) and dividing them by the average ofthe closes of the down bars. RSI ranges between 0 and 100, and mayindicate an “overbought” condition when it is above 80 and an “oversold”condition when it is below 20. However, the buy and sell level may varydepending on the amount of bars used in the calculation. A shorter spanof bars—or shorter time frame—may result in a more volatile indicatorwith greater extremes. A longer amount of bars—or time frame—may resultin a less volatile reading with lesser extremes. Insofar as RSI is anabsolute indicator, i.e. it indicates a company's performance againstitself, comparisons are not usually made. However, in some embodiments,RSI could be used to compare a company against one or more othercompanies, and/or against a sub-industry or sub-industries, an industryor industries, index or indicies, and/or market or markets.

[0062] Relative Volatility. Relative volatility usually compares onecompany's stock volatility against one or more others, and/or against asub-industry or sub-industries, an industry or industries, index orindicies, and/or market or markets.

[0063] Institutional Money Flow. Financial institutional money flow inor out of a company's stock.

[0064] Event Risk. Event risk information can be qualitative informationsuch as earnings preannouncements, insider transactions, stock splits,announced mergers/acquisitions, etc.

[0065] Performance information includes but is not limited to:

[0066] Relative earnings growth. The earning growth percentage of astock relative to some other stock or index.

[0067] N-period price performance. N-period price performance is thechange in stock price over N-time periods compared to other stocks orindexes.

[0068] Earnings estimates. Earnings estimates of a company.

[0069] Earnings surprises. Earnings surprises information, includinghistorical information.

[0070] Of course, embodiments may use any information to construct anytype of view type desired, including but not limited to other types ofFundamental, Market Risk and Performance information. View types assistin analyzing other information types such as entities and relationships,and show the results of using information types such as selection,grouping, and arranging. Any view may comprise a view type.

[0071] In various embodiments, information types (e.g. entities,relationships, selection, groupings, arrangements, view types) are“pre-identified,” that is, the user selects from a menu or other methodknown in the art desired entities and relationships stored on aninternal server or server. In other embodiments, the user may identifyinformation types that may or may not be stored on an internal server orservers. In certain of these types of embodiments, the system may also,after checking an internal server or servers, retrieve information aboutthe desired information types from external sources and present it tothe user. Depending on the nature of the information retrieved, thesystem may well be able to construct the relationships dynamically.Otherwise, the external data may need interpretation before beingavailable to the user. Retrieved information may be stored internally aswell. In some preferred embodiments, the information may be regularlyupdated, automatically and/or manually, from public and/or privatesources.

[0072] Other embodiments use “on the fly” translation of information.For example, turning to FIG. 13, various information resources a, b andc are shown generally. User at terminal 115 requests relationshipinformation through a connection to Server 110. Server 110 draws therelationship information sought by user 115 from sources a, b and c,translates the information if necessary, and thus constructs on-the-flyrelationship information.

[0073] In the preferred embodiments, user access is through a Webbrowser or similar display, however, other displays or interfaces knownin the art may be used as well, including dedicated displays orinterfaces, multimedia interfaces, etc. Additionally, in variousembodiments, access devices known in the art may be used, including butnot limited to personal computers, terminals, limited access devicessuch as personal digital assistants, etc., with connections throughwired or wireless means as known in the art.

[0074] Entities may be selected in a number of ways. As described above,for example, industry groupings may be used with the levels determinedby industry segment. In another example, a first company or set ofcompanies is selected from companies in the information repository. Thena second company or set of companies may be selected based on one ormore criteria, for example a second company or set of companies may beselected that have relationships with the first company or set ofcompanies. A third company or set of companies may similarly beselected, etc.

[0075] In various embodiments entities may include but are not limitedto corporate entities and information, government entities andinformation, financial entities and information (including but notlimited to industry, industry segment, sector, stock index or otherindicies, etc.,) personal entities and information, and other types ofdesired things and information. Relationships may include but are notlimited to: buyer-seller relationships, customer-supplier relationships;company-client relationships, parent company-subsidiary relationships,ownership relationships; resource sharing relationships; joint ventures;political/business relationships, competitor relationships, value chainrelationships, horizontal and vertical relationships and other types ofdesired things and information.

[0076] Preferred embodiments of the invention comprise methods forconstructing financial products. These embodiments utilize the variousinformation types in constructing their products. For example, anembodiment constructs a group of stocks or other financial instrumentsfor trading by utilizing the dominant companies in a particular sector(a “structured product,”) such as, for example, common companies in theLargest 1000 telecom sector. As another example, embodiments mightdefine indexes. For example, an index might be constructed containingall companies in the Largest 1000 telecom sector, including 1) TelecomService Providers, 2) Router and Switch Manufacturers, 3) Router andSwitch Component Manufacturers, and 4) Router and Switch ComponentMachine Manufacturers. The index might be weighted by each company'sbusiness line percentage or other variable, or be unweighted. Otherfinancial products (e.g. mutual funds) may be constructed as desired aswell.

[0077] Other preferred embodiments construct financial instruments. Forexample, structured trades, which comprise one or more stocks or otherfinancial instruments for trading in a desired manner, might beconstructed through various embodiments. For example, a structured trademay seek to capture the difference in volatility between two similarcompanies by selling calls with high volatility (more expensive=higherpremium) and buying them with lower volatility (cheaper). As anotherexample, a structured trade might be designed to provide exposure to thestock of company A while minimizing risk associated with a slowdown inorders from a company B, one of A's largest customers. The user wouldconstruct a pair trade through being long on A and short on B. Theamount of the shorting would be weighted according to one or moredesired criteria, such as A's percentage revenue exposure to B, i.e.,factoring the dependency of A on it's supplier B. Other preferredembodiments might construct other financial instruments as desired.

[0078] The above description and material depicted by the figures arefor purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be and shouldnot be construed as limitations on the invention.

[0079] Moreover, certain modifications or alternatives may suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art upon reading of thisspecification, all of which are intended to be within the spirit andscope of the present invention as defined in the attached claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for viewing information comprising: selecting afirst corporate entity information type; selecting a second corporateentity information type; selecting a third corporate entity relationshipinformation type; displaying said information types through a viewprovided by an access means with predetermined indicia; and, providingalteration means for said view, whereby an fourth information type,chosen from the group comprising corporate entity, corporate entityrelationship, selection, grouping, arrangement and view type may bedisplayed through said alteration means.
 2. A method as in claim 1wherein said corporate entity information type is comprised ofpredetermined criteria.
 3. A method as in claim 2 wherein said corporateentity information type is chosen from the group comprising corporateentities and corporate information.
 4. A method as in claim 1 whereinsaid corporate entity relationship information type is comprised ofpredetermined criteria.
 5. A method as in claim 4 wherein said entityrelationship information type is chosen from the group comprisingbuyer-seller relationships, customer-supplier relationships,company-client relationships, parent company-subsidiary relationships,ownership relationships, resource sharing relationships, joint ventures,political/business relationships, competitor relationships, value chainrelationships, horizontal and vertical relationships.
 6. A method as inclaim 1 wherein said selection information type is comprised ofpredetermined criteria.
 7. A method as in claim 6 wherein said selectioninformation type is chosen from the group comprising stocks, bonds,financial instruments, sectors, industry segments, SIC codes, andproduct lines.
 8. A method as in claim 1 wherein said groupinginformation type is comprised of predetermined criteria.
 9. A method asin claim 8 wherein said grouping information type is chosen from thegroup comprising stocks, bonds, financial instruments, sectors, industrysegments, SIC codes, and product lines.
 10. A method as in claim 1wherein said arrangement information type is comprised of predeterminedcriteria.
 11. A method as in claim 10 wherein said arrangementinformation type is chosen from the group comprising column, row, grid,map, free-form, and structured.
 12. A method as in claim 1 wherein saidview type information type is comprised of predetermined criteria.
 13. Amethod as in claim 12 wherein said view type information type isconstructed from information.
 14. A method as in claim 13 wherein saidinformation used to construct said view type is chosen from the groupcomprising Fundamental information, Market Risk information, andPerformance information.
 15. A method as in claim 1 wherein said indiciafurther comprises corporate entity indicia and corporate entityrelationship indicia.
 16. A method as in claim 15 wherein said corporateentity indicia is chosen from the group comprising graphic, audio, andvideo indicia.
 17. A method as in claim 16 wherein said graphic entityindicia is chosen from the group comprising color, pattern, and shapeindicia.
 18. A method as in claim 15 wherein said corporate entityrelationship indicia is chosen from the group comprising graphic, audio,and video indicia.
 19. A method as in claim 18 wherein said corporateentity relationship indicia is chosen from the group comprising color,pattern, and shape indicia.
 20. A method as in claim 1 wherein saidaccess means is chosen from the group comprising personal computers,terminals, personal digital assistants, cell phones.
 21. A method as inclaim 1 wherein said access means further comprises an interactivegraphic user interface.
 22. A method as in claim 21 wherein said graphicuser interface further comprises a Web browser.
 23. A method as in claim1 wherein said alteration means is chosen from the group comprisingpointing device input, keyboard input and voice input.
 24. A method forviewing information comprising: providing at least one corporate entityinformation type, corporate entity relationship information type,selection information type, grouping information type, arrangementinformation type and view type information type, selecting at least onefirst information type, which said first information type is chosen fromthe group comprising, selection, grouping, arrangement and view type,and; displaying said information type through a view provided by anaccess means, with predetermined indicia; and, providing alterationmeans for said view, whereby a second information type, chosen from thegroup comprising corporate entity information type, corporate entityrelationship information type, selection information type, groupinginformation type, arrangement information type and view type informationtype, may be displayed through said alteration means.
 25. A method as inclaim 24 whereby: the step of providing at least one corporate entityinformation type, corporate entity relationship information type,selection information type, grouping information type, arrangementinformation type and view type information type further comprisesproviding said information types through a server; and, the step ofdisplaying said information type through a view provided by an accessmeans further comprises displaying said information type through aclient side access means.
 26. A method as in claim 24 further comprisingdisplaying a critical path for said information types.
 27. A method asin claim 24 further comprising displaying a dominant critical path forsaid information types.
 28. A method as in claim 24 further comprisingdisplaying a value chain for said information types.
 29. The product ofthe method of claim
 1. 30. The product of the method of claim
 24. 31.The critical path of the method of claim
 26. 32. The value chain of themethod of claim
 28. 33. The method of claim 1 further comprising thestep of creating a financial product.
 34. The method of claim 33 furthercomprising the step of creating a financial product which is chosen fromthe group comprising market baskets of financial instruments, structuredproducts, financial indices and mutual funds.
 35. The financial productcreated by the method of claim
 33. 36. The financial product created bythe method of claim
 34. 37. The method of claim 24 further comprisingthe step of creating a financial product.
 38. The method of claim 37further comprising the step of creating a financial product which ischosen from the group comprising market baskets of financialinstruments, structured products, financial indices and mutual funds.39. The financial product created by the method of claim
 37. 40. Thefinancial product created by the method of claim
 38. 41. The method ofclaim 24 further comprising the step of creating a financial instrument.42. The method of claim 41 whereby the step of creating a financialinstrument further comprises the step of creating a structured trade.43. The financial instrument created by the method of claim
 41. 44. Thefinancial instrument created by the method of claim
 42. 45. The methodof claim 1 further comprising the step of providing a fifth informationtype, chosen from the group of government entities, governmentinformation, financial entities, financial information, industryinformation, industry segment information, sector information, indexinformation, personal entities and personal information, which may bedisplayed through said alteration means.
 46. An apparatus for viewinginformation comprising: a selection means for a first corporate entityinformation type; a selection means for a second corporate entityinformation type; a selection means for a third corporate entityrelationship information type; a display means for said informationtypes further comprising an access means whereby a view withpredetermined indicia may be provided; and, an alteration means for saidview, whereby an fourth information type, chosen from the groupcomprising corporate entity, corporate entity relationship, selection,grouping, arrangement and view type may be displayed through saidalteration means.